Maharaja Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV (Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar; 4 June 1884 – 3 August 1940) was the twenty-fourth maharaja of the Kingdom of Mysore, from 1894 until his death in 1940.
Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV was born on 4 June 1884 in Mysore Palace. He was the eldest son of Maharaja Chamarajendra Wadiyar X and Maharani Vani Vilas Sannidhana. After the death of his father in Calcutta in 1894, Krishnaraja Wadiyar’s mother ruled the state as regent until Krishnaraja Wadiyar reached the age of majority on 8 August 1902.
The maharaja had his early education and training at the Lokaranjan Palace under the direction of P. Raghavendra Rao. In addition to Western studies, he was instructed in the languages of Kannada and Sanskrit and was taught horse riding and Indian and Western Classical music. His early administrative training was imparted by Sir Stuart Fraser of the Bombay Civil Service. The study of the principles of jurisprudence and methods of revenue administration was supplemented by extensive tours of the state during which he gained extensive knowledge of the nature of the country which he was later to govern.
During his 39-year reign as Maharaja, Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV had the following diwans (prime ministers):
- Sir P. N. Krishnamurti (1901–06)
- Sir V. P. Madhava Rao (1906–09)
- Sir T. Ananda Rao (1909–1912)
- Sir M. Visvesvaraya (1912–19)
- Sir M. Kantaraj Urs (1919–22)
- Sir Albion Rajkumar Banerjee, ICS, (1922–26)
- Sir Mirza Ismail (1926-1941; Krishna IV died in 1940)
During his reign, he worked toward alleviating poverty and improving rural reconstruction, public health, industry and economic regeneration, education, and the fine arts
The Maharaja in today’s perspective was the perfect role model for a Startup Entrepreneur:
Here is a small tribute-note we have put together:
Kingdom Innovations in Startup Perspective:
- Minto Eye Hospital– This is the world’s oldest eye hospital. It was established during the Maharaja’s reign in 1903.
- Street lights in Bangalore– On August 5th, 1905, streetlights were introduced in Bangalore. This made Bangalore the first Asian city with street lights.
- Bicameral Assembly– Under Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV’s guidance, Mysore’s Representative Assembly was expanded. In 1907, the assembly became bicameral with the establishment of its legislative council.
- Women’s Right to Vote– Long before women in America and other parts of the world were allowed to vote, they were given the right to do so in Mysore.
- Vani Vilas Sagar Dam in Chitradurga – The dam was constructed in 1907 was the first dam in Karnataka.
- Mysore Boy Scouts– This program introduced in 1909 was the first of its kind in India
- The Indian Institute of Science at Bangalore– In 1911, 371 acres of land and funds were gifted to the Indian Institute of Science to begin running functionally.
- Primary education was made compulsory for everyone and in 1915, public schools were directed to begin admitting Dalit children in an effort to give up caste discrimination.
- The State Bank of Mysore was established in 1913
- The Bangalore Agricultural University was also established in 1913
- The Kannada Sahitya Parishat was established in 1915
- He became the first chancellor of the Benaras Hindu University in 1916.
- The Mysore University was established in 1916
- The Mysore Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1916
- The University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering and Maharani’s College for women in Mysore was established in 1917
- The Sandalwood Oil Factory was started in 1917
- The Bhadravati Iron and Steel factory was started in 1923
- KRS Dam – This dam was crucial to irrigation in Mysore and was built in 1924 after the Maharaja pledged family assets to the project. At the time, it was Asia’s largest dam.
- The Mysore Medical college was started in 1924
- The Vani Vilasa women and children’s hospital was instituted in 1934.
- The Mysore Paper Mills was founded in 1936.
- The Mysore Paints and Varnish was founded in 1936 – This company still manufactures indelible ink used during every election in India now
- The Maharani’s College for women was established in 1938.